The Ryan Anthony Foundation announced today that jazz trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval will perform at their CancerBlows benefit concert and after-party that will be held in Memphis, Tennessee, at The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts on September 24, 2022. Sandoval is the winner of 10 GRAMMY awards, 6 Billboard awards, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to music. In addition to Sandoval, the benefit will feature 20 trumpet legends such as Doc Severinsen, Lee Loughnane, and many more along with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra led by Robert Moody. The After-Party Jam, a separately ticketed event featuring more music from the legends as well as cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, will follow immediately after the concert in the Renasant Convention Center Riverfront Terrace Rooms overlooking the Mississippi River. Money raised from the benefit will support cancer research and patient support programs with a focus on blood cancers. Concert tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com. After-Party tickets, VIP Fan Packages and Sponsorships are available at CancerBlows.com.
“Arturo has supported CancerBlows for many years and we can’t thank him enough for his unwavering supporting and joining us for the Memphis Benefit Concert this year. We are thrilled to welcome him and our other world-class musicians to the stage as CancerBlows returns to live performances,” said Niki Anthony, President and Executive Director of The Ryan Anthony Foundation, “It feels appropriate for our comeback concert to be here since it’s my hometown, where Ryan and I met and where Ryan started his career 29 years ago with the Memphis Symphony.”
CancerBlows was created in 2014 by trumpeter Ryan Anthony and his wife, Niki, after his diagnosis of multiple myeloma, a terminal cancer of the bone marrow. Since its inception, CancerBlows events and recordings have raised over $3 million and brought hope and healing to thousands of patients and their families around the world. This will be the first CancerBlows concert since the coronavirus pandemic and the first one since Ryan passed away in June of 2020.
Some of the brass legends slated to appear include Doc Severinsen, Tonight Show Band Leader & legendary jazz artist; Lee Loughnane, founder and member of the GRAMMY-award winning band Chicago and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee; Wycliffe Gordon, International Jazz Soloist; Wayne Bergeron, Hollywood lead trumpet heard on movie soundtracks like “The Incredibles” and “La La Land”; and former members of Canadian Brass Jens Lindemann, Ronnie Romm and Joe Burgstaller. The soloists will be backed by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Robert Moody.
“We can’t wait to blow cancer away in Memphis on September 24,” said Doc Severinsen, former Tonight Show Band Leader and legendary jazz artist. “We have so much fun at the CancerBlows concerts and couldn’t think of anything we’d rather be doing than celebrating the life and art of our friend Ryan Anthony while raising money for cancer research.”
The CancerBlows Memphis events are a homecoming of sorts as Niki Anthony is originally from Memphis and a University of Memphis alumnus. Ryan also began his career in Memphis playing Second Trumpet in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and created the organ and trumpet duo, Anthony & Beard, with acclaimed Memphis musician, Gary Beard. After leaving the orchestra in 1994, Anthony’s career led him to play with many orchestras and brass groups before becoming a member of the world-famous Canadian Brass. After Canadian Brass, Ryan became Principal Trumpet in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Trumpet and the Chair of the Winds and Brass Department at Southern Methodist University, positions he held until his death.
In 2012, at age 43, Ryan was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a terminal cancer of the bone marrow and was given just three years to live. During his first stem cell transplant, he was overwhelmed with calls from trumpet players all over the world. Each one wanted to know what they could do to help.
“We’ll all play a concert when I am healthy again and we’ll call it cancer blows,” Anthony would joke.
As the weeks went by, the joke solidified into a real event with an impressive guest list. Soon the Anthony’s realized it could be more than just something for fun but could be used to raise awareness and money to further the research that helped give their family more time.
In addition to a return to the stage, throughout 2022, “Song For Hope: The Ryan Anthony Story”, a documentary about Anthony’s work, diagnosis, and fight is appearing in film festivals worldwide, winning multiple Best Documentary and Best Musical Score awards already.
More information about CancerBlows can be found at CancerBlows.com. More information about “Song For Hope” can be found on the website songforhopemovie.com.